Taiwan, China share a quest: WTO membership

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- At odds with China on most fronts, Taiwan has found a common quest with its rival: the desire for membership in the World Trade Organization.

For years, Taiwan has maintained it is as important as China when it comes to world trade, so its application for membership in the international trade group should be treated separately. But as China has drawn closer to entry, Taiwan has decided to pin its hopes of joining the WTO on China's coattails.

Taiwan has completed all trade negotiations required by WTO members, and is continuing its own lobbying efforts. Taiwanese Economics Minister Wang Chih-kang departs for Washington on Monday to seek U.S. support of Taiwan's entry this year.

But the nation believes its admission is stalled because WTO members don't want to risk the ire of China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

Beijing insists that it must get into the WTO first, then Taiwan can follow as long as the island is admitted as a "tariff zone" and not as a nation. "We hope relevant parties will observe this," said Sun Yuxi, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Separated politically since a civil war in 1949, Taiwan and China do not recognize each other, and Taiwan has refused official contacts with Beijing.

As a global outcast, Taiwan hopes WTO membership could give it more international exposure. Taiwan is denied preferential tariff treatments by most countries and access to international arbitration of trade disputes -- benefits it hopes to gain through WTO membership.

China has stepped up its drive for WTO membership and offered substantial concessions to lower trade barriers in areas ranging from telecommunications to insurance.

Continued worries over China's concessions in financial services, steel and textile businesses prompted President Clinton to lobby against China's membership earlier this month. Still, WTO Secretary-General Renato Ruggiero says China might qualify for membership as early as November.

That came as a great relief to Taiwan's WTO negotiators. Membership is so appealing to Taiwan that officials are casting aside concerns that a WTO spot could draw Beijing closer to Washington and thus imperil Taiwan's political interests.

One persistent fear is that China will balk if Western countries demand more severe trade concessions, thereby dampen Taiwan's hopes of joining.

© 1999 The Associated Press.
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